WI Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian declares Petronius Maximus an usurper?

Following the assassination of Valentinian III in AD 455, Magister Militum per Galliae Majorian did appear to be a likely candidate to succeed to the western throne, particularly as he enjoyed the support of Marcian the emperor of the east. But the throne fell to Petronius Maximus and after his death to Avitus. (There is some suggestions that Majorian might have played a part in the death of Avitus.)
WI ERE Marcian declares Petronius Maximus an usurper and sends an army to impose his candidate Majorian as WRE? Majorian was a competent General and distinguished himself fighting the Franks and Marcomanii before his elevation to the Imperial throne... How is this altering History? Any thoughts?
 
with the support of the eastern emperor he may well pull of a victory. i'm not sure if he can do that much better though. the western empire has real trouble at this point. the economic problems are something that needs to be addressed, and they look like being almost insurmountable at this point.

was majorian a good enough administrator as well as a competent soldier?
 
Here are my thoughts. Majorian was probably the last chance for the Western Empire to make anything even remotely resembling a recovery. He was a decent general, a decent administrator, and altogether an Emperor that, in a different age, could have been a great one. As it was, he fell short of realizing that potential by a very small amount... which brings up Majorian's #1 problem that needs to be taken care of.

Ricimer. The barbarian general who, in OTL Majorian's reign, was the Emperor's main contender for holding power within the realm, and who ended up being Majorian's undoing. Therefore, with Petronius Maximus being removed, it is possible that Ricimer never enters the picture, or at least does not get as powerful as he did in OTL. This makes the world of difference, combined with the very real possibility that the Vandal sack of Rome in 455 does not occur (as Majorian was quite competent at holding off the invaders when he did not have Ricimer sabotaging his plans, and without Petronius Maximus in the picture, or with him removed before he could do any real damage, the Vandals no longer have a casus belli).

End result - while long-term outcome is anyone's guess, I think it may lead to a smaller, but far more viable Western Empire surviving for much longer, even if it does lose most outlying territories. It may still preserve its core lands in Italy, Sicily, some parts of Spain, parts of Gaul, and perhaps even reconquer North Africa from the Vandals. OTL, Majorian actually attempted to do that, but due to some sabotage from Ricimer, it was not accomplished... here, he may yet succeed, thus making the Western Empire a primarily coastal state, but also a more viable one in the long run.
 
Even if Majorian lost Italy and had reconquered North Africa he could move his capital to Carthage and attempt regaining his Empire using the resources from N. Africa...
 
with the support of the eastern emperor he may well pull of a victory. i'm not sure if he can do that much better though. the western empire has real trouble at this point. the economic problems are something that needs to be addressed, and they look like being almost insurmountable at this point.

was majorian a good enough administrator as well as a competent soldier?

He attempted to impose laws that would drive up the birth-rate, and appeared to actually be improving things, but he was killed in relatively short order I believe. Gibbson thought he was one of the "Last True Romans"- a throwback to the Imperial hey-days.

The question I think that needs to be answered is what does the Western Empire need to do to survive? I don't really feel that question has ever been answered in a "Western Empire Survives" scenario. People just kind of wave their hands around and declare it survived.

If Majorian is a good military commander, and has the backing of the Eastern Empire, then maybe he could launch a few military campaigns to bring the federated barbarians into line with the Empire? With some deft diplomacy and military victories, you could bring the barbarians into the Empire, by making their tribal kings governors of the provinces that they already occupy.

If Majorian becomes Emperor before Spain and North Africa are invaded, then I think that the Empire might have a chance. The challenge is in figuring out how to get the barbarians (or enough of the barbarians) to believe that a relatively strong Western Empire is in their interest. By giving them positions within the Roman hierarchy (post-Roman military victory), and settling them in Roman lands, then you might be able to tie the tribes to the continued survival of the Empire.
 
He attempted to impose laws that would drive up the birth-rate, and appeared to actually be improving things, but he was killed in relatively short order I believe. Gibbson thought he was one of the "Last True Romans"- a throwback to the Imperial hey-days.

The question I think that needs to be answered is what does the Western Empire need to do to survive? I don't really feel that question has ever been answered in a "Western Empire Survives" scenario. People just kind of wave their hands around and declare it survived.

If Majorian is a good military commander, and has the backing of the Eastern Empire, then maybe he could launch a few military campaigns to bring the federated barbarians into line with the Empire? With some deft diplomacy and military victories, you could bring the barbarians into the Empire, by making their tribal kings governors of the provinces that they already occupy.

If Majorian becomes Emperor before Spain and North Africa are invaded, then I think that the Empire might have a chance. The challenge is in figuring out how to get the barbarians (or enough of the barbarians) to believe that a relatively strong Western Empire is in their interest. By giving them positions within the Roman hierarchy (post-Roman military victory), and settling them in Roman lands, then you might be able to tie the tribes to the continued survival of the Empire.

Not to be a nitpick, but Spain and North Africa have already been invaded for 20+ years by the time of Majorian, with Rome still controlling some of Spain, but Carthage already being a Vandal dominion since about 420-430, give or take a few.
 
Not to be a nitpick, but Spain and North Africa have already been invaded for 20+ years by the time of Majorian, with Rome still controlling some of Spain, but Carthage already being a Vandal dominion since about 420-430, give or take a few.

Thats not a nit-pick, that is actually very helpful. In my opinion this POD doesn't result in anytime except changing the stationary when the Western Empire falls.
 
Thats not a nit-pick, that is actually very helpful. In my opinion this POD doesn't result in anytime except changing the stationary when the Western Empire falls.

I think that any POD that rids Majorian of Ricimer is likely to be an improvement on the Western Empire's fortunes. The problem is, all the evidence points to the two of them being pretty much old comrades-in-arms, with Majorian apparently trusting Ricimer rather explicitly until later on in his reign. Which means that an elevation of Majorian may also lead to an elevation of Ricimer to the position he held OTL. Remove or marginalize Ricimer, and leave all power within Majorian's hands (which is possible if he becomes Emperor just a bit earlier, before much of Roman power structure is altered or even disassembled in the wake of Vandal invasion), and you have just removed the #1 obstacle to Majorian's reign preserving the territorial integrity of the core Imperial domains, recovering the population somewhat, and attempting to jump-start the economy again. At the very least, it would be an improvement on the OTL situation, from the WRE point of view.
 
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